Review: Gluten Free Muffin-in-a-Cup Mixes from Wheat Free Market
Baking is an art in and of itself and I’m a total wannabe baker. It’s something that I don’t really have the time to do. I used to make Christmas cookies with my mom, but that was pretty much the extent of my baking experience. It’s one thing to bake with wheat flour, but adding the whole ‘gluten-free’ thing into the mix is a completely different monster…at least for me.
I’ve had limited success with other baking mixes in the past since making something from scratch is simply out of the question. There’s no desire in my heart to sit and shift, mix, blend, shape any sort of baking masterpiece from a book. Hey, at least I’m honest here. Cooking – great! Baking – not so much.
So when the folks at Marion’s Smart Delights sent me a few boxes of their gluten-free lemon bar and cookie & muffin mixes to check out, I thought to myself, “This is going to be interesting!” I must firstly admit that they’ve done a truly lovely job of making this baking thing pretty simple for me. There’s very few ingredients that I need to add in the mixes which makes them incredibly easy for a lazy non-baker like myself to use! Plus the recipes call for eggs and butter, which if you know me (sensitive to eggs and dairy as well), felt initially like a bummer until I realized that Marion’s Smart Delights offers vegan recipe alterations on their website. Cool, right?
I decided to try baking muffins since it’s probably the simplest to make and I’ve been on a gluten-free muffin kick lately. The beauty is that you can literally use the mix as a base and then check out Marion’s Smart Delights‘s website to find a myriad of different ways that you can adjust the flavors to whatever your heart desires.
A few points that really caught my eye is that Marion’s mixes are not only certified gluten-free, but they’re also vegan, kosher and low in sodium. They even go so far to state that the products are “Free of: Gluten, nuts, tree nuts, soy, dairy and egg, manufactured in a GFCO-Certified, dedicated facility free of wheat, gluten, nuts, tree nuts, soy, dairy and egg.” Plus, their sugar content is great – only 3 grams per serving. The amount of added sugar will only come through the introduction of applesauce and whatever fruit or sweetened chocolate you choose to add.
How I did not know about Marion’s Smart Delights is mind boggling to me because I really should have! Upon opening the oven, I found some really delicious muffins that were quite a hot item at the subsequent picnic to which I brought them. A tasty, moist, lightly sweet cake that’s so versatile and pleasing to all palettes and allergen issues – you’ve got to give ’em a try. They are probably one of the best gluten-free muffin batches I’ve EVER made. Even my gluten-eating husband was extremely impressed with the texture and taste.
In my personal batch, I swapped out the egg for ground chia seed, butter for soy-free Earth Balance and ended up using Cinnamon Applesauce (it was the only organic option at the store). Even with these alterations to the original recipe, these muffins rocked. I’m sure that they’d be even more delectable if you are able to tolerate eggs and butter. After this lovely baking adventure, I’m excited to make my next batch of muffins! Maybe chocolate chip??
Wanna try the mixes out for yourself?
Heck yeah! We’ve got a super cool contest and ONE winner will receive two gluten free muffin mixes and two lemon bar mixes. Yes, that’s four boxes total!!
To enter, here are the directions:
- Sign up on www.DailyGourmet.com (you’ve got do do this!!)
- Follow @DailyGourmet on Twitter and/or Facebook: http://www.facebook.
com/dailygourmet. - Follow Gluten Free School on Facebook.
- Then leave us a comment below with your email address so I can email the winner.
- BONUS :: For an extra entry, you can tweet the following message “Have u registered for @MarionsDelights #GF giveaway at http://bit.ly/oukJmC? Awesome baking mixes thx to @dailygourmet & @evolvingwell” so we see it. OR you can also leave another comment here letting us know that this was tweeted.
The contest ends on Thursday 9/15, so make sure you do this now!
In conjunction with Daily Gourmet, this is all in honor of my FREE teleclass happening Wednesday evening (9/14/11) at 7 PM ET called:
Five Ways Gluten *STILL* Sneaks into your Diet
We’ve still got a few seats left, so visit HERE to register for the event. Don’t worry if you can’t make the live class, you’ll receive the recording AND some really cool offers from Daily Gourmet as well!
GOOD LUCK!
Would love to try these! I miss eating muffins!
GIRLLLLL this is a FAB giveaway, thank you for the opportunity!!!!
You know me, I love my GF baking!! WOOO HOOO!!
xxoo
You’re sooooo welcome! I’m glad your interested in winning. I think you’ll love these for sure 🙂
I follow them on Twitter now and Like them on FB!!! YAY!
xxoo
Like to cook, Love to bake…finally got the vegan baking to my taste, and now I am working on the gluten free 🙂 Will have to try these mixes. Thanks for the suggestion.
Ok, so the winner of the 4 boxes of Marion’s Mixes is Meg! I’ll put you in touch with the people who’ll get your stuff out to you ASAP. Thank you everyone for entering!